Thursday, October 22, 2009

Well it's finished! I spent the last couple of days painting my new Amelia Earhart illustration. I think it came out pretty nice. I especially like the color scheme. Let me know what you think! Here's hoping the new movie is decent as well. This paintings is available for sale if you are interested, $500.

Monday, October 19, 2009

This week there is a renewed interest in Amelia Earhart with the bio pic movie starring Hilary Swank playing soon and an exhibit of her story with original belongings opening up at The Museum of Flight in Seattle next weekend. This movie really has me excited (I hope it's good!) and has renewed my interest in Ms. Earhart. I have long had a bit of a crush on her. I have read some books and magazine articles about her and ten years ago completed an oil painting portrait after being inspired by her story (see below). I am a sucker for stories of adventure especially set during the 1920's and 30's. I love the look of that era. Her life story has it all as far as i'm concerned.

Anyway, in the frenzy of new interest in her story I have been inspired again to complete a painting of her, this time geared more as a sample for the children's book market. The older painting above I like but I wanted something lighter and more fun and also frankly I think I am a better painter now. I will be working on it this week. Here is a color study and a little drawing of her face for the painting. I hope you like them! I will post the final painting when completed. If any one in the publishing world is reading this, please consider me for a picture book bio on her. It would be a dream job for me!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

As I mentioned earlier I am working on a new project for McGraw-Hill. It's a landscape for the cover of a teaching guide. Eventually I will do it in either oil or acrylic but for now I wanted to play a bit with color. I took my original drawing into Photoshop and pretty quickly applied color. Though on the final I will use a traditional medium, at this stage it's nice to save some time. I know the benefits of Photoshop!

The first color study is more traditional and the second is more in keeping with the colors they wanted me to use.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Last week I hung a bunch of my landscapes at a friend's workplace as a little mini show for the enjoyment of her cubicle co-workers. I wanted to have a few new images so completed these two paintings for the show. The one of the barn is from our new place n Bellingham. This scene is just a few hundred feet from our house. The lighthouse image is from our trip to New England in 2008. It was in Old Saybrook, Connecticut.

They are available for sale if you are interested. "Yew Street" (11x14 inches, oil on canvas) is available for $175 and "Old Saybrook" (14x18 inches, oil on canvas) is $200. Hope you enjoy them! It's always good to break out the paints just for fun outside the confines of an illustration project. On a side note, this week I received a new project from the publisher McGraw-Hill in Chicago to paint a landscape for a school textbook. Yeah! They seem to be a recurring theme for me lately.

BORN TO DRAW COMICS IS OUT SOON!

About Me

Is the illustrator of over 20 published books for children including "Born to Draw Comics" and the Charlotte Award and Keystone to Reading Book Award winning title "The Can Man". He has worked on picture books, easy readers, book covers, textbooks, graphic novels, magazines and beyond. Some of his past clients include Henry Holt & Co., Simon & Schuster, Scholastic, Highlights and Boy's Life magazines. Craig also teaches children's book illustration and loves to share his books with students during school and library visits.